The U.S. Civil Rights Commission held hearings in Santa Rosa CA in 1998. The vice-chair, former California Supreme Court Justice Cruz Reynoso, commented that "It was as if there were two Santa Rosas and two Sonoma Counties…"
He was right. One Santa Rosa is the economic, political, and social elite that owns and runs Santa Rosa and Sonoma County. The other Santa Rosa is all the rest of some 165,000 residents.
This blog is dedicated to the other Santa Rosa.

Monday, March 20, 2006

Reelect ‘HotFix’ Blanchard

Mexican gang kids are shooting other kids on the street, so the Mayor and Vice Mayor called a meeting. The Press Democrat reported Sunday,

“Mayor Jane Bender and Vice Mayor Bob Blanchard plan to meet with Police Chief Ed Flint and City Manager Jeff Kolin to determine what immediate actions should be taken and to discuss existing gang prevention programs, Blanchard said Saturday.”

Martin Espinoza’s story quoted Blanchard:

“ ‘If kids aren't safe at a school bus stop, where are you safe?’ Blanchard said. ‘We're just getting hit by a whole series of these things.’”

“What happened ‘is totally unacceptable,’ he said. ‘There could be retaliation. Right now we need a hot fix of enforcement in this area.’”(PD, 3/19/06, “SR official urges ‘hot fix’ after shooting/gang attack spurs city leaders to meet, tighter security at school”

What’s a “hot fix”? “A hotfix is code (sometimes called a patch) that fixes a bug in a product.” (SearchWinIT.com)

Blanchard is a dour middle-aged man, with the sober demeanor of an undertaker. His background is military/police and teaching, but he apparently fancies himself a trendy, systems kind of guy.

Last Saturday, he seemed to think he and Bender could handle Santa Rosa’s violent street gangs the way Microsoft fixes Windows software bugs. They meet with CM Kolin and Chief Flint, and email the community a patch.

Blanchard is the only Council incumbent who wants to be reelected in November. Three seats are up for grabs, and Janet Condron and Steve Rabinowitsh are retiring.

I can see the fall campaign signs now: “Put a patch on crime! Reelect Bob ‘HotFix’ Blanchard.”

Just three days later, a follow-up story in today's PD reported,

"City leaders also met Monday about gang issues and struck several different notes.They said the violence concerns them but does not signal a new explosion of gang crime. They also said only a community-wide response can effectively address both the gang violence and the reasons young people join gangs, and they urged residents to take advantage of gang intervention, counseling and education resources."(PD, 3/21/06, "SR police suspect 2 gang shootings related/school tightens security after attack at bus stop; city officials say violence not a new explosion of gang crime")

And a neighbor of the site of the most recent shooting had a letter in today's PD. She wrote,

"Who has to die before the city of Santa Rosa takes action to resolve what is clearly an out-of-control situation? In fact, Airway Community School is not a school but a juvenile detention center without security...

The failure of the City Council to take immediate action to rectify this explosive situation immediately can only be described as negligent behavior. Any further injuries or deaths will be blood on the City Council's hands." (PD, 3/21/06, "Out of control")

In the meantime, Blanchard backed off. Mike McCoy's story today said,

"City Councilman Bob Blanchard, who Saturday called the violence 'unacceptable' and sought a 'hot fix of enforcement in this area,' said he was speaking specifically about the police response.On Monday, he said that with more information available, he was satisfied the police response had been on target and he was reassured 'we are doing everything we can to address this on every front.' "

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About Me

Geoff is a Northern California native, who has lived most of his life since 1952 in Santa Rosa. He's a citizen, taxpayer, voter, and (thanks to inheritance) a homeowner. Geoff wrote nearly 50 major articles about City Hall for the monthly Sonoma County Environmental Impact Reporter between 1992-98. He strongly supports stringent enforcement of California's Brown Act, which requires elected and appointed officials to do most of the City's business at open and public regular meetings; and the Political Reform Act, which prohibits officials from acting on matters in which they have a personal financial interest. Geoff is also owner/moderator of the Yahoo group The Real Santa Rosa, at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/therealsr/